Natale in California

This was a sweet unassuming movie that had a decent story, solid acting (the two leads are married in real life). In spite of some corny antics by the supporting cast I found it to be better than the critics have said. Some people complain that it isn't a Christmas movie but I don't agree. Check it out.

The first 1/3 of this movie is terrible so be forewarned. If you can stick it out however, it gets much much better. It may not top any lists but it has heart in the second half. Not much Christmas though

The real Manny is the star of the movie... he needs his own spinoff.

Well... To be fair I went into this movie fully expecting it to be a half star affair, but wow this was actually cute. Literally none of the main characters in this movie are unbearable which is unheard of in this genre.

If one is looking for originality or strong holiday themes, look elsewhere. I tuned in because I like Josh Swickard. To his credit, he has admitted that the script was written by his wife/co-star in a couple of weeks. And, was filmed on her family's property during General Hospital's Covid-hiatus. With that caveat, I think that California Christmas is very watchable. It does not suffer the stiff blandness of a Hallmark movie. Josh, David del Rio and Ali Ashfar provided a good amount of comic relief. Lauren Swickard successfully threaded the fine line of being a fiercely independent woman who can ask for help when she needs it, as well as acknowledge appreciation for help she might not have initially wanted. Amanda Detmer also rose above what could have been considered an overly sentimental character.